Clean the storm shelter, prep the weather tie, and get your Oklahoma Standard hashtag ready! We're going to have some Severe Weather Porn tonight.
After a couple of weeks of hype and fear mongering, the Oklahoma Severe Weather season officially kicks into high gear today with today's forecasted apocalyptic severe weather event. Here are the most up-to-date fear maps from our three local news channels. They're accurate as of noon today:
Well, it was nice knowing all of you. Please stay weather aware, and if you're playing an updated version of the Gary England or Mike Morgan Drinking Game, drink responsibly.
Even though the odds of someone in the scary red areas above seeing a tornado tonight are very, very slim, the state is already in the process of shutting down. In preparation for storms that no one really knows where or when will hit with certainty, schools are closing early, events are being re-scheduled, and Aaron Tuttle cancelled his nightly spray tan sessions.
As always, you can blame for-profit TV news channels and their social media reach for helping spread the hype, but in all fairness, they are simply doing their job and reporting the news. It's not their fault severe weather fear and paranoia sells so well in Oklahoma. We all know how deadly and tragic it can be. I just wish they would be a little more transparent and honest about it. They should use a disclaimer like this:
"Hey, we know this is going to flip everyone out, cause a general panic, shut down the local economy for a day, and generate a huge bump in TV ratings and web traffic that will help us sell more advertising and lucrative helicopter sponsorships, but there's a chance for some tornadoes and hail this evening."
Anyway, I digressed a bit. This post is actually about some new pics that Marla Morgan emailed to us. Check them out after the jump. Hopefully they'll cheer you up and help calm your nerves before the tornadoes get you tonight. Good luck!
